


A New Start in a New Time

by TabbyWolf



Series: Hope will never die [2]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka isn’t in this fic, Dealing With Loss, F/M, Gen, Jaig has too many uncles, Joining the Military, Post-Episode: s05e20 The Wrong Jedi, This fic is more like an arc. Don’t worry that it’s short, Time Travel, alcohol consumption, especially Rex, going back in time to save your parents, i still don’t know how to tag, sad clones, there will be more fics in this series, this takes place in the week after Ahsoka left the order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-01
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-04 15:03:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20473001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TabbyWolf/pseuds/TabbyWolf
Summary: Jaig arrives in the past, where she immediately meets her father, Rex. In order to stay close to him and her opportunity to prevent the empires rise, she joins the Grand Army of the Republic while her father deals with Ahsoka (Jaig’s mother) leaving the Jedi order.See the description of this series for more contextSequel to Civvies on Mandalore, will be continued





	1. The Clone Bar

**Author's Note:**

> So, here’s the next part of the story. Enjoy!

Jaig woke up on her stomach in a dark alley. The neon lights were the only thing lighting the darkness as she tried to climb out of the garbage. As she stood up, she noticed her left lekku hurt a lot. She looked at it and noticed that it had a nasty cut in it, probably from a glass shard. It was going to infect if she didn’t clean it immediately.

When she came out of the alley, she noticed a bar up ahead. Good. Even though she had no money and her ID listed her date of birth as 4 AFE, she still had a decent chance of obtaining alcohol. She didn’t like the idea of using her gender as a way of getting alcohol out of men, but it was the best option so far. And there had to be a bathroom with a fountain. She wasn’t 100% if this planet (which she assumed to be Corusant) had potable water from the tap, but she had to risk it. Her head was pounding and her throat was parched.

She went inside. The music was loud and she didn’t pay attention to anyone there and looked for the bathroom. It was marked by a large sign, so she found it immediately. She vaguely noticed that there was only one (presumably mixed gender) bathroom but she didn’t care.

In there, she immediately turned on the tap and started drinking the water straight from it. She probably looked stupid with the tap in her mouth, but the water was the best she ever tasted in her life.

“Are you okay?” A familiar voice said. It sounded like her father. She turned around and saw a young man, maybe a few years older than her, standing behind her. His face looked like the pictures of her father when he was younger, but he had dark hair, a goatee and the number 5 tattooed on his temple. He wore a full set of clone armor with a striped Kama and boots, and two pauldrons. An ARC trooper, apparently. She just stared at him, not knowing what to say. 

“You’re drinking water from the tap in the bathroom of a clone bar and you have a cut on your lekku, of course you aren’t alright” he said, shaking his head

“What’s your name?” She asked the clone.

“I’m Fives” he said. She froze. So this was the man her father had told her about. Echo’s brother. And her father’s brother too. “What’s yours?” he asked

“I’m Jaig” she said, her chin still dripping with water. 

“Do you need medical attention for your lekku? One of my brothers is a medic. I can bring you to him if you want too”

“Yes, I think this is going to need stitches” she said as her stomach audibly rumbled. 

“And you need some food. I can give you some if you’re desperate enough for a ration bar?” He offered. 

“Are they that bad?” She asked

“Nah, just bland. But you’re a carnivore right? They’re full of carbs. And I know what kind of reaction you could get to them”

“I’m actually an omnivore. I’m half human”

“Ah okay. Well, here you go” he said as he handed her a ration bar, which she started eating immediately.

“Thank you” She she said with her mouth full. It was dry and powdery, but she was starving so she ate the whole thing in three bites.

“No problem. I’ll take you to our table to get your wound cleaned up” he said as he walked out. She followed him.

“By the way, we are all kind of down at the moment. We lost someone”

“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss” she said on automatic pilot.

“Thanks” He said as they arrived at his table.

There were four other clones sitting at the table. They all looked depressed, but one clone with blond hair was literally lying face down on the table.

“A girl? Really, Fives?” One of the other clones asked. He had the Republic cog on his face and had a clean shaven head, but well kept stubble on his face.

“No, it’s not like that. She was drinking water straight from the tap and she looked to be in trouble as well. And trouble shared is trouble halved.”

The other man did not look impressed.

“And I have a cut on my lekku. It’s from falling on garbage, so I need to have it disinfected as soon as possible and Fives told me one of you is a medic”

“That would be me.” Another clone day. He had lightning bolts shaved into his buzzcut, stubble that matched the other clone and the words “a good droid is a dead one” on the side of his head. 

“I’m Kix, nice to meet you” the medic said as he pulled a chair from a different table and gestured for her to sit next to him

“I’m Jaig” she said.

“Nice name” another clone, who had his long hair in a bun and a teardrop tattoo underneath his eye. “I’m Tup, and this is Jesse” he gestured at the clone with the cog. 

“Is it alright if I touch your lekku?” Kix asked.

“Yeah, it’s not like we have any other way to disinfect” she said. “Just do what you can”

Kix nodded and grabbed her lekku firmly, which surprised her. Most doctors had been very gentle with her lekku, because they knew they were sensitive but not exactly how. Squeezing them wasn’t particularly painful, but they were sensitive to other kinds of pain. He started disinfect the wound immediately. It burned, and she gritted her teeth while her lekku started twitching violently, but Kix held on to it and disinfected it quickly before inspecting the wound.

“You’re lucky, it’s not that deep. You won’t need stitches, but I’m going to have to put a bacta patch on it” He said as Jesse handed him the patch.

“You’re really good at this, my own doctor was usually too careful with them and would take forever because they’d keep moving” 

The whole group went silent as Kix applied the patch and rubbed it to make sure the bacta got in the wound. Jaig winched a bit at that.

“Yeah, he has done this before on our Commander” Tup said quietly

“We lost her recently” Jesse clarified. 

“Well, she left” Fives said. “She didn’t die”

“It’s my fault” the blond clone said, his face still on the table.

“No, it isn’t. You were just trying to bring her back” Tup said

“Yeah, we all know she wouldn’t have blamed you” Kix said.

“Yeah, and you technically saved her. You know how trigger happy Fox can be against people who escape costudy” Fives added

“Yeah, she might’ve been shot if you hadn’t talked him out of it” Jesse said. "You did the right thing, Rex”

Jaig froze. The blond one was her father?

He looked up and made eye contact with Jesse. Then he looked straight at her and his eyes widened. He didn’t look like how she remembered him at all. He didn’t have the beard he always had, though he wasn’t exactly clean shaven either. He had dark stubble on his chin that looked more like he just didn’t shave the last two days than a neatly kept stubble Jesse and Kix had. The blond hair was unfamiliar too, but it did explain why her lekku markings were gold. His eyes still looked the same as they had in her future though. Her mother had told her that since the pattern of the iris wasn’t actually genetic, all clones had unique irises. That went for fingerprints too. And most importantly, force signatures. She reached out with the force. It was really him.

She sat there, stunned at how fast she had found him. She’s he didn’t know how to react. He didn’t look happy to see her at all, he just stared at her like he was disappointed that it was her for a good moment. After that, he looked down and sighed.

“Sorry for my reaction” he mumbled, slurring his words a bit “you look just like her. A lot.”

“Now that you mention it, she does.” Fives said. “Sorry, Vod”

“Vod means brother” Jesse translated for her

“I know, I’m from Mandalore” she replied in Mandoa

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know there were any Togruta on Mandalore”

“I’m actually a hybrid, half human”

“I didn’t know that was possible” Tup said.

“Neither did my parents. That’s why I exist” she said, hoping that a joke would help her relax a bit.

“What do you mean by that?” Tup asked

“I wasn’t planned. My parents made me by accident”

“Nats be like that” Kix shrugged

“Doesn’t it bother you that you have no purpose in life?” Fives asked.

“Not really. It’s not like the people around me had a purpose in life either. We nats just have to find out own purpose I guess”

Fives just handed her a bottle of alcohol “in case you need it.” He said

“Thanks, I do actually” she said as she took a big gulp. It burned her throat. She had had alcohol before, either small sips from whatever her parents were having or beer she drunk with her friends in the last few weeks, but this much was new to her. Still, she recognized this as na’tre gal.

“What happened?” Tup asked. 

“Both my parents were taken by bounty hunters. I tried to find them but I ended up finding out they were killed and now in stuck on this planet”

“Damn, That sucks.” Jesse said. “Well, you’re welcome to drink your troubles away with us. We’re currently dealing with how our Commander left. Do you want to say a remembrance for your parents?”

“No thanks, I found out about my father’s death yesterday, it’s still too fresh. I’m not ready yet” she lied. She was ready to say a remembrance, but not in front of her drunk but very much alive father while he was mourning the loss of her mother. And she didn’t want to say their cover names. It would erase who they were and her parents had never used them at home. “Can I ask what happened to your Commander?”

“She was suspected of murder and bombing the Jedi temple” Tup said “And then she tried to escape to prove her innocence, but Rex was send after her, along with Commander Wolffe and the Coruscant Guard.”

“They eventually captured her, thinking that the Republic wouldn’t convict her of a crime she didn’t do and that going to trial would clear her name” Fives said.

“And her name was cleared, though not thanks to the Republic. General Skywalker found the evidence” Jesse added

“And then she left the Jedi order” Tup said “We don’t know why and that’s Skywalker was willing to say. Something must’ve upset them”

“Like getting falsely accused of murder and terrorism while the entire Jedi Order watches you be falsely convicted?” She suggested. She knew that was what went down, and that the trial had been broadcast.

“Wait, how much do you know?” Kix asked

“I saw the trial on the holonet. At least, I saw a trial. But the details match up with what you said, and she did look like me a bit. So I’m pretty sure that Padawan Tano was your commander. But the Jedi council watched as the Chancellor basically told the jury to consider how terrible it would’ve been if she was let go and turned out to be a separatist spy. That wasn’t how courts are supposed to work, and the Chancellor was way outta line with that one”

“Kriff, That makes sense” the medic said

“The Chancellor wouldn’t do something like that, right?” Tup said

“He did” Jaig confirmed. “I think he tried to get this over with as fast as possible to make the Republic look better. People tend to think that fast and effective are the same thing. The separatists try to leave because the Republic is too slow and bureaucratic. Palpatine tried to get a fast conviction, even if it’s a false one, to prove that the Republic is better than the separatists. Even if it cost him the life of your Commander. And a Jedi order watched as this happened. I think that’s why she left.”

All the clones just stared at her, even her father. No, Rex. She should start using his name mentally, to prevent slip-ups. 

“I guess you’re right“ Rex said. “What are we even fighting for?”

“To end the clone wars.“ Jaig said. “The Republic still has to win. Sure, it’s a flawed system. But no system is perfect. And this war is just making the corruption worse than ever. The Republic was built to fix itself from the inside. Unhappy people will vote out corruption. The Republic can be fixed, but not during this war. That’s why we’re fighting”

“It was inspiring“ Tup said. 

“Thank you” she said

“I love how you said we when it’s us that do all the fighting” Jesse scoffed amicably

“Yeah, sorry. I think I had enough ne’tra gal to forget that I’m not actually part of this group”

“Well, if you want to you could join the 501st” Fives said “We still have an opening in Torrent company”

Jaig didn’t even have to consider it. This was the perfect opportunity to be near her father again. “Yes, I’d love to join”

Tup, Jesse and Kix nodded enthusiastically.

“Great! Rex, what do you think?” Fives asked

Rex lifted his head from the table. “I’m too drunk to care, do whatever you guys want. Just make sure at least one of you can carry me to the barracks”

“I don’t think he understood what I said, but it’s a yes. Let’s go back to the barracks” Fives said as he downed the last of his bottle in one go.

Kix and Jesse grabbed the captain and started dragging him back to the barracks. Fives gestured at her to come with him, and Tup followed. She hoped this was going to end well

* * *

Later that night. Fives was still up doing paperwork. He had Jaigs sign up form almost filled out, all he needed was her last name. He couldn’t ask her now, she had fallen asleep in the barracks immediately. The poor girl must be exhausted. Then he remembered that she had handed him her ID. He had been confused about it at first, but it made sense now. ID’s were the civilian equivalent of the info stored on the chip in his arm, and all the info he needed would be on there.

He grabbed the small card and noticed the writing. It wasn’t aurebesh, these were Mandalorian letters. He could read it, but still. Then, he took a double take. Did her name really say “Anakin Cody Fives Tano”? Yes, it did. Weird. But she had introduced herself as Jaig, and he would respect that. Besides, adding her real name would just confuse everyone. Especially her last name. He knew that it was a very common last name on Shili, so it wasn’t that likely that she was related to Commander Tano. Besides, Tano was listed as clan name, house Kryze. That confirmed that she was in fact from Mandalore, not from Shili. Her date of birth didn’t make sense to him either. 4 AFE? Whatever. He left her age blank. He signed the papers. All that was left to do was get her signature, and the 501st would have their first natural born recruit


	2. The Recruit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaig spends her first day in the army getting tested for all sorts of things, Rex accidentally gets drunk with his General and Kix finds the results of Jaig’s DNA test interesting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here’s the second chapter. I hope you guys like it so far. There’s a few technical terms in here that I’ll explain in the endnotes to safe you from googling. If I forget one, just ask and I’ll explain it too

“Hey, wake up” Jaig heard her father say. “Dad?” She asked as she woke up, excited to be back home in her own bed to find out this had all been a bad dream.

“No, sorry.” Her father said. “My name is Rex, I am the Captain of Torrent Company. Which you joined last night. Usually, I’d expect you to be up and awake by now. However, I’ll let it go this time. Are you still sure you want to sign up? I don’t want you to risk your life on a decision you make while drunk”

“Yeah definitely” she said, still groggy. “I want to fight for the Republic”

“Okay, then I’ll tell General Skywalker while you get your checkup with Kix. Fives will put your armor in your quarters.” He said as he gestured towards her armor in the equipment box they had given her yesterday “Follow me to the medbay”

She nodded for up to and followed him silently. She could tell he was hungover and knew him well enough to avoid talking back to him until he had at least a liter of fluids replaced. Especially since he didn’t know that she was his daughter and saw her as nothing but a new, natural born recruit. 

While following him, she noticed that his Kama looked different from hers. The plastoid utility belt was still white instead of gray and the blue edge was still visible. She wouldn’t have guessed that it was the same Kama if she hadn’t known. Good, less suspicion on her

* * *

“Hi Jaig, how are you feeling?” Kix asked after she sat down for the examination

“To be honest, pretty terrible. I’m hungover, and I’m still exhausted. But that’s probably because I barely slept this last week”

“Okay. If you’re concerned, you should see me. But that just sounds like a temporary issue.” He said as he handed her a bottle of water. “Do you have any medical history I should be aware of?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t had any major injuries and I am mostly healthy. I get sick occasionally but nothing major.”

”That’s good to know. You mentioned you were a hybrid. Can you elaborate on that? I have no experience with hybrids and I need to know how to treat you”

“Yeah sure, my mother was a Togruta and my father was a human”

“Were there any complications when or before you were born?”

“Yes, obstructed labor. I was born via emergency C-section. I did get enough oxygen, so nothing wrong there.”

“Because of the montrals?”

“No, I just didn’t have any fontanelles for some reason” she said.

“That’s interesting. Are you a carnivore or an omnivore?“

“Omnivore, though I can probably survive on a meat only diet”

“Anything else we need to keep in mind?”

“Yes, I need to keep my own gear. My head probably won’t fit inside a regular helmet”

“That’s no problem, I’ll put it in your file. I’ll get you your own room as well. Anything else?”

“No. That’s all” 

“Okay. I’ll need to do a physical exam as well” 

“Okay,” Jaig said. Kix grabbed his equipment and started looking at her eyes with a lamp.

“You have beautiful irises by the way. Blue with gold secondary pigment is a rare combination”

“Thanks” She said, unsure of what to make of it

“I have to measure your lung capacity” he said as he gave her a tube that was connected to some kind of machine. “Take a deep breath, hold your nose and breathe out into the tube” he said.

She did, and Kix watched the meter go up.

“Impressive. Your lung capacity it bigger than I expected” the medic said

“But I scored just below average” she said, looking at the meter.

“That’s the average for clones. We have been engineered to have a much bigger long capacity than natural borns. The fact that you managed to score that high without any genetic engineering is astounding”

“Thanks” she said. She didn’t want to tell him that she had technically been genetically engineered to have a large lung capacity. She had inherited that from her father.

“How many tests are you supposed to run?”

“Height, weight, blood and DNA”

“Okay” She said as he lifted up her sleeve. Kix took the sample quickly, and stored it. He then handed her the cheek swabs. She took her own samples and handed them to the medic.

After that, she was weighed and measured, which said she weighed 62 kg and measured 1.72m without montrals. Good, she had been working on building more muscle mass

“Okay, that’s everything” the medic said

“Can I go see my quarters now?” She asked

“Yeah, that’s fine. Fives has been preparing your quarters, I’ll comm him to pick you up”

“Oh that’s fine, I think I can find it myself. I’ll have to learn my way around here anyway”

“It’s no problem. I think he’d appreciate the distraction. That way he doesn’t have to deal with the whole Commander Tano situation. That’s how we usually deal with losing someone. We grieve one night at 79’s, and then we just keep busy until it hurts less”

“Damn, that sucks. Well, I’ll do my best to ask everyone i see to show me stuff if that helps”

“That would be appreciated. Fives will be here in a minute”

* * *

Rex stood in front of the door to General Skywalkers office. He was getting unusually nervous, but that was understandable. He had gotten drunk, signed up a civilian for the army and now he had to see this through because he had let Fives do the paperwork already instead of waiting until he was sober. He had probably crossed the line into alcoholism already, so he took a big gulp from the flask he hid under his Kama before knocking on the generals door

When the genera opened, he didn’t look much better than Rex felt. In fact, he looked worse. Before Rex could say anything, Skywalker started to shout in his face. “Don’t you dare lecture me, Obi-Wan. I know I should handle this better, but- you’re not Obi-Wan.”

“No Sir, it’s me. Rex. Are you okay?” He asked, even though that was against protocol.

“Obviously not. How would you feel if you chased Ahsoka around the city, got her captured and almost sentenced to death just because you didn’t listen whenshe told you what was going on?”

Rex sighed “I know the feeling, Sir. I did the same thing” 

“Oh. Right. Come in, I need a drinking buddy”

Rex followed without saying a word as he tried to figure out how to steer the conversation towards the new recruit he had picked up at the bar.

The General poured him a glass and downed some more of his own. “So, what reckless decision did you make yesterday?” He asked. 

“How did you know?”

“I can feel it, Jedi powers. I can feel how tense you are, it’s the same feeling I get when Obi-Wan asks me how the most recent battle went, only much stronger”

“I signed up a random civilian. She’s in Torrent company now. I asked her is she was sure that she wanted to join and she seemed determined, and I couldn’t say no to her”

“Why would you do that?” The Jedi asked

“To be honest, she reminded me of Commander Tano”

“What? You tried to replace her?” Skywalker spat

“No, of course not. But she asked to join and I just couldn’t say no to her because she reminded me of Ahsoka”

“Because Ahsoka was your CO?” 

“No, because I love her and felt guilty for not listening” he admitted

“You love with the new recruit?” 

“What? No, I meant that I love with Commander Tano” 

“Oh okay” Skywalker said.

They fell silent for a few moment while Rex wondered where Ahsoka was now.

“Wait, you _love my **padawan?**_” The General asked, astonished

“Wait? I said that?” Rex said, realizing that he did in fact say that.

“Yeah, you did. Well, Joke’s on you. I married your favorite Senator”

“What?”

“I know she’s your favorite. You like the clone personhood bill she’s trying to pass. Well, I managed to put a ring on it first”

“Sir, it’s not like that. I only like Senator Amidala as a politician”

“You don’t like her as a person?”

“Of course I do. But you know what I meant. I just think Senator Amidala is a great person and an amazing politician”

“Of course, Rex. She’s mine, and I’m so glad I managed to marry this woman. Don’t say anything though, I have to keep it a secret

“I know Sir.”

Rex said, already regretting coming here

“Were you planning on telling her?” Skywalker asked

“No, sir. I know I could get in trouble for that, and I don’t think she felt the same way”

“What? I wouldn’t give you any trouble. The two of you would be amazing together. You could have such a cute family together. You could adopt Torrent company as your children. I’d be adorable”

“Yeah... Thanks Sir” Rex said, as he finally understood why General Kenobi didn’t allow General Skywalker to drink. “But I’d still get in trouble with the GAR. Besides, I don’t think she’d feel the same way about me”

“Why not? You’re quite handsome for someone who’s eyebrows don’t match his hair”

Rex took a deep breath before deciding to take that as a compliment. “Thank you, sir. But I’m a clone. There are millions of people with the exact same face as me. I’m not special”

“Rex, you’re all individuals. That’s obvious from your force signatures. And she remembered your name. That’s gotta count for something, right?”

“Sir, she remembers the names of every single clone. That doesn’t mean anything, and there’s a big difference between remembering someone’s name and being in love with them” he said as he finished his first glass.

“I know, but what do you have to lose? Ask her when she comes back”

“Sir, I could literally die. The Kaminoans would definitely euthanize me if they found out that I put anyone above the Republic. Not that I think I’d get to that point”

“Yeah, they’re never gonna find out”

“No sir, I meant that I’m gonna be dead before that happens”

“C’mon Rex. Don’t be overdramatic”

“I’m not. I’ve seen this before, in my brothers. They get close to someone, usually someone from outside the army, and then that person just disappears. And then they start feeling down, and they usually complain about chest pains to the medics. But the medics can’t find anything wrong, and but they’re still off their game. Usually they die the next battle. After Jaig is done with her check up I’ll get my own heart checked, but if he can’t find anything I’m gonna prepare for the end” he said as he drank more. “Jesse would make a good replacement if I die”

“Don’t talk like that, I won’t let that happen. I didn’t know a broken heart affected you guys that badly”

“Wait, there’s a name for it?”

“Yeah, it’s the normal reaction to losing someone you love. But don’t worry, I’ll do everything I can to make sure you’re still alive when Ahsoka comes back”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I can feel it. We’ll see her again”

“I hope so” Rex sighed. “Jaig should be done with her physical soon. I’ll get to the medbay”

“You should. Thanks for the company”

“It’s no problem, sir. I’m happy to help.” Rex said as he stood up. Before he knew it, General Skywalker had gotten up as well and wrapped his arms around him. He pulled Rex as close as his armor allowed. “I just want you to know that I really appreciate you and that I give you my blessing for dating Ahsoka when she comes back”

“Thanks, sir. Rex said as he awkwardly patted his General’s back before squirming out of the iron grip and walking towards the medbay as fast as he could without seeming too rude.

He was definitely going to avoid his General whenever alcohol was involved now

* * *

“So, why did you decide to join?” Fives asks as he walked her to her quarters.

“Honestly, I don’t really know why. I guess I just wanted a sense of purpose again, now that I don’t have anyone left” she said, half truthfully

“Yeah, I guess it must really suck to lose your parents. But I’ll never know, I don’t have parents”

“It’s probably a bit similar to losing a batchmate, except that they were the ones who raised me, not the ones I was raised with. Still, they’ve been there for as long as I can remember. They taught me everything, including how to walk, how to eat, how to talk...”

“Wait, did they teach you how to fight?”

“Yeah, of course”

“Thank the force. We really should’ve checked that before we signed you up. Can you come to the shooting range with me? I need to see how good you are”

“Yeah sure”

* * *

“Fives, where are you?” Rex said into the commlink. He had tried to find Jaig and Fives, but they weren’t in the medbay or her quarters as he had assumed they would’ve been.

“Hey Rex. I’m at the shooting range with Jaig. I kinda forgot to ask if she knew how to fight before letting her join”

“Kriff! Well, how is she holding up?”

“Surprisingly well actually. At least, with a DC-17. She’s good with them, almost as good as any ARC trooper. But she falls flat with most other kinds of blasters. She doesn’t look like she’s ever held a blaster before when I gave her a Z-6. I think she’ll do amazing as long as we should just let her stick to what she’s familiar with”

“Okay that’s great. You should keep training her on how to use the other equipment. I’m gonna take a nap now. Tell her I put an appointment to talk with Skywalker in his agenda for tomorrow 15:30.”

“Sir, I don’t think you should be putting things in Skywalkers agenda without his permission”

“Fives, it’s fine. General Kenobi gave me the password and told me to help the General keep organized”

“Typical. Why can’t she see the General today?”

“We got drunk together, and I wouldn’t wish a drunk General on her. Besides, she needs to be shown around the base and stuff. I’m off to sleep until I’m sober again. Good night Fives”

“Night” Fives said. Rex disconnected, and his commlink jumped back to displaying the current time. 10:34. He was really out of it, so he just climbed back into bed and hoped that he’d feel better in the afternoon or whenever he’d wake up

* * *

Kix was busy rechecking the files on all his patients when the sequencing machine beeped. Eager to have something less boring to distract him from worrying about Commander Tano, he grabbed the report and started reading. Overall, it looked good. No allergies or intolerances, no other known defects. Then, he noticed something odd. There was an unknown sequence found at the end of one of her chromosomes. Just one, it wasn’t found on its shorter counterpart. It wasn’t unusual for chromosomes to be of a different length. After all, the Y was just a shorter version of the X. But this extra length would be entirely unreadable to RNA-polymerase. He went back to the sequencer’s monitor and looked up the file that correlated to that chromosome. He opened the file, and then immediately shook his head as the computer started spewing out the whole thing back onto the command line interface. He shouldn’t have used the cat command.

Just as he was about to close it, the output finished. There, on the end was a message written in human readable text.

`This clone was created by the Kaminoan Cloning Facility of Tipoca City, commissioned by Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas in name of the Republic`

This was clearly clone DNA. He ran the compared on Jaig’s DNA and the modified Jango Fett genotype, and half of her chromosomes were a perfect match while the other half didn’t even match what was expected for a human. Kix knew what this meant. Jaig’s father was a clone. There was no other explanation. Except that that was impossible. She was around the same age as Commander Tano was, and she was over four years older than the oldest of them. Even if Jaig had inherited her father’s accelerated aging it didn’t add up. She’d be 7 years old and the youngest estimate he could reasonably make, and that would still mean that her father would’ve been biologically 7 or 8 when she was born, which wasn’t possible. He hoped. Either she was somehow created by the Kaminoans as well, or something terrible had happened. Either way, he had to keep this quiet for now. Whatever was going on, now wasn’t the time to discuss this with any of his brothers. And if he wanted to find out what was going on, he’d have a better chance if he was stealthy.

He shut down the computer without saving the results of the DNA test. He only kept the printouts, which he put in his file where the were supposed to be kept. He’d look into this later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RNA-Polymerase is an enzyme that copies DNA into RNA and then the RNA is send to a different part of the cell (ribosome) to act as instructions on how to make a protein
> 
> cat in this context is a Linux command that is used to show a file on the screen in the command line interface. It’ll show everything, but if a document isn’t made to be read by humans you get gibberish
> 
> Thanks for reading, let me know what you think so far


	3. The Citadel Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaig has to take on the citadel challenge before she can ship out to her first real mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, this is the last chapter of this fic but there will be a next part in this series so don’t worry that it doesn’t really tie up any plot lines. It’s not the actual final chapter :)

Jaig took a deep breath before knocking on the door at 15:30. She was meeting General Skywalker, her mother’s former master. She worried that he might not like her. She had heard that he had accused her fath- Rex of using her as a replacement for her mom. Rex has assured her that he told him that it wasn’t the case. But still.

The door opened and revealed the chosen one himself. He looked just like the pictures her parents had of him, except that his hair was a mess.

“Hey, you must be Jaig”

“It’s nice to meet you, Sir”

“Come in”

She did as she was told without question, not wanting to look like a bad soldier right of the bat. Her father and uncles didn’t seem to think she was out of place, so she took that as a good sign. She sat down in front in the messy desk

“So, you’re our new recruit”

“Yes sir. It’s nice to meet you“

“I see you already have the formalities down. I’m impressed” 

“Thank you sir”

“So, you decided to join the grand Army of the Republic. Can I ask why? Most civilians prefer to let the clones do the dirty work”

“I want to help out.”

“Don’t you have a family someone that would miss you? Fives said you’re only 16” he said as he showed her the application Fives had filled out directly after coming back from 79’s

“No sir, not anymore”

“I’m sorry for your loss. But why join the military?”

“Because you’re fighting a war against the people who killed my parents. I want to avenge them. And I want a sense of purpose”

“Okay then. I can’t tell you what’s an acceptable reason to join is, but revenge is not the Jedi way”

“I’m no Jedi”

“I like how you think. But you have to prove yourself before we can take you on missions. How does the citadel challenge sound?”

“What’s that?”

“It’s one of the final tests the clones have to take before they graduate. You actually need a squad for it, but I have something in mind. You can pick anyone in the 501st to take the test with you, as long as you include Rex. He’s... really hurt by my padawan leaving and I don’t trust him to come back alive from an actual battle. He puts all him energy into looking like he has his stuff together you know. Anyway, do you want to take the challenge?”

“Yes, definitely“

“Okay, I’ll send you and whatever squad you pick to Kamino whenever you’re ready. Don’t wait too long though, I want you en route before the next campaign. Which means you have at least three days. Probably more, but I can’t guarantee it”

“Okay. Thank you for this opportunity”

“No problem Snips” he said before burying his face in his hands “I’m sorry, that was my padawan’s nickname. You look a lot like her. I’m still not over it myself to be honest.”

“I understand. I’ll leave you alone to deal with it”

“Thanks for understanding”

“Of course. I know what it’s like to lose someone you care about”

“Yeah, well as a Jedi I’m supposed to _release my feelings into the force_”

“Permission to speak freely, sir”

“Yeah, sure”

“Some of the things the Jedi say are bullshit. If you can’t release it into the force, maybe you just aren’t ready for that yet. Just take your time. You’re not actually releasing your feelings into the force of you have to push it. It’s okay to be upset, and you should let yourself feel that emotion. It’s there because it’s the natural reaction to what happened. But you should release it into the force when you’re ready. Don’t bottle it up. Feel what you’re feeling, but don’t let it control you”

“I’ve never thought about it like that. Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind”

“No problem, sir”

“You’re dismissed. Good luck with your challenge.”

“Thank you, sir” she said as she got up to leave. She had a good feeling about this

* * *

Jaig walked into the mess hall around dinner time and quickly located her dad.

“Hey dad, is it alright if I sit with you?”

Rex didn’t react to her, but Fives started laughing

“Did you just call the Captain _dad?_”

Jaig could feel her lekku darken. She didn’t have the Togruta reflex where the actual color of the stripes would darken, she would blush in a more human way. Her lekku got a pinkish undertone and felt really warm, similar to her cheeks. It was one of the small things that gave away that she was a hybrid

“Sorry, Sir” She said to Rex.

“It’s okay kid. Fives, knock it off. You’re being a dick”

“Yeah, _Fives_” Jesse said. “She just lost her parents. Of course the poor girl’s confused”

Jaig just nodded.

“You don’t have to call me sir by the way. It feels wrong somehow” Rex said.

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind”

“Can you use something other than the default for me as well?” Fives asked

“What is it?”

“Fives the almighty”

“Only if you pay me 20 credits per month”

“Hey, not fair! You’re the only one getting paid around here”

“I am?”

“Yeah,” Jesse said “natural born recruits are paid. Are you seriously telling me you joined thinking you wouldn’t be payed at all?”

She shrugged “well, I had assumed I’d be treated the same as everyone else”

“Yeah but what’s the benefit of that?”

“The barracks are much more comfortable than that trash pile I cut my lekku on. And I don’t have any money, so I doubt I’d be able to afford housing and food otherwise”

“That’s fair I guess”

“Guys, can you keep it down a bit? My headache is flaring up again” Tup said

“Right, Sorry Tup.” Jaig said, considerably softer now “I just wanted to ask you guys a favor. I need to take the citadel challenge and I need a squad of five total. General Skywalker said he’d assign Captain Rex to me, but I need three more volunteers”

“Of course I will” Tup said

“Are you sure?” Fives asked. “Don’t you wanna rest?”

“Nah, I’ll be fine. It’s not that bad and I can deal with a mild headache”

“Okay. I’ll volunteer as well” Fives said to Jaig

“Me too” Jesse said

“Then it’s settled. I’ll inform General Skywalker” Rex said “you three should update her on the specifics of the test”

* * *

The next day, she was inside a light cruiser en route to Kamino with her new, temporary squad.

“Have you ever been to Kamino?” Jesse asked 

“No, I haven’t”

“It’s mostly water”

“Just what I had expected from an ocean planet”

“Speaking off Kamino, we’re here” Tup said. 

Jaig looked out the window and saw the cloning facility through the thick curtains of rain

“That’s incredible” she said in awe

“Eh, it’s honestly not that impressive. It’s just a building on poles” Fives said

“I’ve never seen anything like it”

“How much of the galaxy have you seen, kid?” Rex asked

“Admittedly, not much. I lived on Mandalore my whole life, and after trying to find my father I traveled to Lothal and then I ended up on Coruscant”

“Do you know what happened to your father?” Rex asked

“My uncle told me he died” she said. It was true, but she had to leave out the details for obvious reasons

“Couldn’t your uncle take you in?”

“No, he couldn’t. It’s a long story, and I don’t really want to talk about it” she said 

“That’s fair” Rex said

“Are you nervous?” Tup asked

“A little” she said. 

“Well, we’re going to watch some shinies do their test first. So you’ll at least know what to expect”

“That’s always Nice”

* * *

She watched the cadets fire training bolts into the droids with awe. “Did you guys all do his before”

Her uncles nodded, but her father shook his head. “I did the Clone Commander version of this. They used actual ammunition. The deadly kind”

“Impressive” she said.

“I bet they’ll tune down the ammo even more for you though. They can’t afford for you to get hurt” Jesse said

“Very observant, CT-5597” a female voice behind her said. She turned around and saw a tall, skinny yet intimidating woman. A Kaminoan, judging by the long, slender neck, pale skin and large, dark eyes

“As a citizen of the Republic, you’re very valuable to us. You can’t be replaced if anything goes wrong. This is just a ceremonial test, no real danger and you will certainly pass.”

“What?!” she exclaimed indignantly

“This will be just like laser tag, except with droids instead of living opponents”

“And how do you think I’ll survive an actual battle?”

“You weren’t intending to do the dirty work, right? We created the clones for that”

“They are people too. And I knew what I was getting into. If I have to, I will die as one of them. Give me the live fire”

“Whoa, calm down kid” her father said “General Skywalker send me here to keep me away from live fire”

“You are not important, CT-7657” the longneck spat

“Yes, he is. Practice fire it is. Put me through the same test that you put them through” Jaig insisted

“Please, reconsider” the Kaminoan said

“No, you’re not going to go easy on me just because I’m a nat. The droids won’t either”

“Alright, if you insist” the Kaminoan said. “But any injury is not our fault”

“Fine by me”

“Follow me to the changing room. After you’ve put on the blacks, your squad mates will explain the rest of the equipment”

* * *

Jaig walked into the changing room in the blacks. They were a few sizes too big for her. The clones were busy changing from their regular armor into the training armor.

“I hope the rest of the armor is going to be a better fit” she said

“Probably not, they gave you the exact same set we all wear.” Tup said.

“They’re not really a big fan of diverse body types around here” Jesse joked. “I hope it fits you, if the plates are too big they might lock up your knees”

“I hope so too. I’m 9 cm too short, so it might work” she said as she put the leg armor on. It did fit, but the plates scraped together with every movement and the boots were too big.

“Hold on” Fives said as he grabbed several socks from a locker “put these on for extra padding”

“Good thinking” Rex said.

“There’s Vaseline in here if you need to lube up the places where the armor is scraping” Tup said as he dug through a different locker

“Why is there Vaseline in a locker room?” Jaig asked 

“You don’t want to know” Jesse said.

The body armor was a bit tight around the hips and lose around her shoulders, and it sat a bit too high on her. The arm armor was a bit too lose but they padded her underarms with paper towels so she didn’t have any trouble using the buttons on the vambraces.

The helmet was a whole lot of different drama, but they eventually got it to fit by removing the inner lining and bandaging up her head with sponges between the bandages so that the plastoid outside would fit. It was still uncomfortable on her montrals, but not as much as she had anticipated.

They still had about ten minutes left, so Jaig decided to ask some questions

“So... Captain, you said they used live fire with yours. Why did they do that?”

“I was originally a Clone Commander. We didn’t graduate by seizing the flag, we did by surviving”

“Can I ask how you ended up being a Captain instead?”

“They found out I had a visible mutation and put me in a position where the Jedi wouldn’t see me without a bucket”

“Well that didn’t work out” Jesse said.

“Yeah, and I’m practically a Commander anyway. Just not on record”

“Typical General Skywalker” Tup said “he never does the paperwork”

“How did your challenge go?” She asked

“We did a different version, but it went okay I guess. Graduated the first time, though not as one of the best. I got into the 501st by chance”

She looked at Jesse

“Basically the same as Tup,” he said “except that I got shot in the neck with a training bolt. Kix carried me too the finish line and helped clean up the wound. He decided he wanted to be a medic afterwards, since he was better at helping others than shooting clankers. By the way, those training bolts still hurt and they can leave wounds. Not major ones, but still. Just a heads up”

“Thanks for the advice. What about you, Fives?” 

“Don’t leave anyone behind, that’s all I have to say. It looks like it’s time to go, come on. Let’s do this” he put on his helmet with the number 5 on it and left for the elevator. 

“Fives, Jaig should go first. She has number one. Then me, then Jesse, Tup and then you”

“Why do I have to go last?” 

“You picked number 5” Jesse shrugged

Fives mumbled angrily beforehand getting into place behind Tup.

* * *

Jaig took cover behind the last obstacles, they are almost at the end but the clankers were returning heavy fire.

“Fives, take out the ones on the left. Rex, on the right. Jesse, Tup, prepare your ascension cables” she ordered. 

The clones did as they were ordered, so she grabbed her own ascension cable and started to attach it to her blaster.

“Switch” She said, and Tup and Jesse started firing at the droids over the top of the block while Rex and Fives hid behind the sides and attached their cables. 

She joined Tup and Jesse in taking out the droids. When they were all down, she shouted “now!” and the five of them jumped over the block and shot up their cables. They climbed up as the clankers recharged and got to the pole.

The clones (and a few bounty hunters) that had been watching cheered and her squad jumped around her in some kind of celebratory group hug

“Sorry of this is to close,” Fives said as he pulled her to the side of her armor by her shoulder “it felt like it would be ruder to not give you a group hug. It’s a tradition”

“It’s fine, but Jesse needs to move his arm” she said as she pushed the clone that had accidentally elbowed her in the lekku away.

“Sorry vod’ika” He said

“What?” She asked 

“You’re one of us now” Tup said as the door opened.

They turned around, and behind them stood a tall Togruta. She was about as tall as her mother had been, but her skin was a dark red and her lekku markings were gray instead of blue, and the stripes were straight instead of her moms nexu stripes or her own spot-like stripes.

“General Shaak Ti” Tup said to her

“Hello Jaig” the older Jedi said. “I wanted to congratulate you on becoming the first natural born recruit in the Grand Army of the Republic”

“Thank you, General”

“Can I ask you a question out of curiosity?”

“Of course”

“How did you get that helmet on?”

“We took out the inner lining and replaced it with sponges that are bandaged to my head” she said as she took off the helmet and unwrapped the sponges, now damp with sweat, from her face

“That’s creative. I hadn’t assumed that would work and I was ready to have a very stern talk with the Kaminoans”

“Yeah, I suppose it wouldn’t have worked on a full blooded Togruta. I’m lucky to be half human”

“That also explains the eyebrows” she said “You should rest tonight. Tomorrow you should go back to the 501st, so you’ll still have time to repaint your armor and prepare to ship out to Ringo Vinda”

“Yes General, Thank you”

* * *

Later that night, she sat outside in the rain to think about today’s events. The citadel challenge hadn’t been as hard as she expected, apparently she had been prepared enough thanks to a combination of the Mandalorian education system, being force sensitive and the way her parents had trained her, especially her father. It had still been exhausting though, and Tup’s headache had flared up again afterward. He had taken a painkiller and went to bed immediately. She worried about him. Maybe he should be kept away from actual combat like her father, but she already knew him well enough to know he wouldn’t agree to that. 

She was still worried about her father. She didn’t even know if he was really her father. How could he be if she wasn’t born yet? And he wouldn’t appreciate it if she just walked up to him and explained the situation. He wouldn’t even believe her. The man who raised her had died just a few days ago, and here she was getting cozy with him and his brothers. They had all been so accepting. She didn’t know if they clung to her because she was a welcome distraction or because they genuinely liked her, but she felt like they were family already. And she wanted it. When Rex had pinned that medal on her chest, she genuinely felt like she had her father back. She stared at the pointy golden star. She knew he was proud of her, but it was probably as a Captain. She missed having him as her father, but she knew she couldn’t tell him

She suddenly felt a presence behind her. Fives. She turned around.

“Sorry, am I interrupting something?” He asked

“No, I was just thinking about my parents” she admitted

“Understandable. Is it okay if I join you?”

“Sure”

Fives sat down next to her. “Sorry for being so grumpy today. The citadel challenge brought back some bad memories”

“Did you fail or something?”

“The first time, yeah. I left Droidbait behind and that’s an instant disqualification”

“But you made it eventually”

“Yeah, General Ti was kind enough to offer us a second chance”

“She does seem like a kind woman. Where is Droidbait now?”

“I don’t know, maybe he’s in the force. That’s what the Jedi say. He was killed by commando droids on Rishi moon. That was the first base I was stationed at. After that, we lost Cutup to a giant eel, and Hevy sacrificed himself. Echo and I were the only ones that escaped. I lost Echo too, at the actual citadel. The prison that this exercise was modeled after. That’s why I came here. To say my remembrances”

“I’m sorry for your loss” she said as she freaked out internally. Echo hadn’t died at the citadel and she knew it. He had been part of the Siege of Mandalore and died there shortly after her parents had deserted. She knew he had been severely injured and captured by the separatists, so that’s probably what actually happened

“Do you want me to leave you alone so you can say you’re remembrances?”

“No, it’s okay. I’d actually prefer if you heard their names as well. In case I’ll die too. I might be the last one to remember Droidbait and Cutup, so I’d really appreciate if you remembered their names for me”

“I’ll do my best” she said. Fives just nodded at her and started saying his remembrances. She listened intently

“Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Echo, Droidbait, Hevy, Cutup, Hardcase, Dogma, O’Niner, Nub, Ringer, Jake, Star, Nipple, Kicker, Nuts, Bolts, Fly, Mike, Pocky, Herc, Spit...”

Apparently he was doing the long version today. She patiently waited for him to finish, they sat in silence for a few moments

Eventually, Fives broke the silence

“So... about names. Can I ask why my name is the third one on your ID?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you” she said, unable to come up with an excuse in time

“Try me”

“I’m from the future, and you saved my parents’ lives in the future. That’s why they named me after you”

“If that’s true, then how did you get back here?”

“The force works in mysterious ways”

“Well you’re right. I don’t believe you. But I don’t suppose you’ll answer any of it, so I’ll let you keep your secrets”

“Thanks for that. It would be kind of awkward to explain to the General and the 212th Commander”

“Yeah definitely. And I know Cody is a common name as well. Maybe Anakin is too. I know Tano is a really common name on Shili. Similar to Fett on Mandalore or not having any last name on Kamino.”

“I know. Thanks. For everything”

Fives just nodded and got up. She still didn’t know if it was the right thing to hint at her actual identity, but it had turned out pretty well. She started shivering when a sudden gust of wonder hit her. The rain had soaked her entire undersuit. At least she had the black, oversized set to sleep in now. She got up and went back inside. Tomorrow, she would go back to the rest of the 501st and paint her armor. And the next stop was Ringo Vinda

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I really appreciate the comments and kudo’s. So thanks for them. I really needed to have some positive feedback on something I did because real life is a mess.
> 
> Also I’m cuteshinymew on tumblr in case you wanna talk to me or something (like about what I should name the next fic, I genuinely have no idea yet and I plan to upload it next week if my schedule permits that)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading :) let me know what you think so far


End file.
